An interdisciplinary conference to be hosted at Northumbria University in conjunction with the Centre for Media Research at the University of Ulster June 27th-28th 2012.

Ireland and Britain share in large measure a common, if disputed, history. Ireland is, of course, a former colony of Britain, and Northern Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom so that one of the conundrums of the Irish experience is that it is both post-colonial and neo-colonial; national and regional; periphery and centre. Irish popular music, therefore, displays a complex set of sometimes contradictory characteristics, and Irish artists and musicians work within and against such an intricate web of social, economic, political and cultural influences that their art and music raises dizzying questions about national identity.

A One Day Symposium: Friday 22nd June 2012Binks Building
University of Chester, England

From Cadillacs to tour buses, motor vehicles and popular music have developed in parallel as symbiotic commodities. Their intimate and intertwined relationship evokes issues and feelings that characterize life in modern society. The conference aims to outline and discuss this relationship between these two culturally charged commodities. Motor transport is a dominant feature of the modern world. Cars, buses, trucks and everything in between have their followers and dissenters. Vehicles offer the functions of mobility, freedom, speed and comfort, but they are not just physical machines. Contemporary and historic brands offer consumers opportunities to display status, belonging, style and choice. Social and utilitarian elements combine within a motor aesthetic that provides individuals with entry into particular imagined communities. A multiplicity of brands and logos symbolizes the various styles, designs and attitudes that are now a global currency. Advertising and marketing have elevated the social place of particular vehicles to objects of fantasy, desire, status and play. Just as motor vehicles are referenced in popular music, so music is a part of automobile culture and design.